Perks Of Being A Wallflower Analysis

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the story of a unique high school student named Charlie and his journey of self-discovery throughout his freshman year. Charlie’s personality changes drastically from the beginning of the book to the end of it; and this is what I want to focus on. First I am going to detail Charlie’s personality at the beginning of the book and then use Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Development, Kohlberg’s theory of Moral Development, Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and an article about adolescent bulling to analyze them. I will then use examples from the book and film to illustrate his growth in the respected areas. Through these major theories of psychology I will show Charlie’s evolution from a wallflower to a human being.

The Perks of being a Wildflower movie is a great demonstration on adolescence and childhood development as it portrays how much we as humans are effected by our early childhood years and how we struggle to make sense of life while navigating through adolescence. We are molded by our environment, but also shaped by the neglect or abuse we suffer as children. The traumatic experiences are life altering and if not dealt with can have dramatic outcomes for our future. The movie has a great story line and walks the audience through the character and identity development of an adolescence. Dissecting Charlies character will be helpful in understanding that part of a human’s life and development.

For my paper, I am diagnosing Charlie from the film, Perks of Being a Wallflower. Before I delve into Charlie’s diagnosis, I will provide some background information about his character. In the film, Charlie is a 15 year old boy who has recently started high school as a freshman. He lives with both parents, and his sister who is a couple years older than him. Charlie also has a brother who has gone away to college. In school, Charlie is seen to be good with academics, particularly in English, since he has an interest in writing. However, Charlie does not have any friends and his best friend had kill himself in the last year. Furthermore, Charlie is seen to be quite socially awkward around his peers and usually keeps to himself.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is a book about the changes teens go through as they mature and the obstacles they face during this time. Charlie comes across changes in his relationships, his own stance in his family, school, and friends, and how he thinks of himself. He learns about his past and makes changes towards how he thinks about himself and why he is who he is.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming of age film about a 15 year old boy, Charlie, who has been through much trauma. As a freshman Charlie is left with no friends, because of the suicide of his best friend Michael, but he has the support of an english teacher who inspires his dreams of becoming a writer. Eventually, step-siblings Sam and Patrick discover that Charlie is lonely and in need of a friend, so they take him under their wing. Sam, Patrick, and their group of friends have much wisdom about life, because they are older, much of which they share with Charlie. Under the wing of Sam and Patrick, Charlie becomes more excited about life. Although, he still struggles with the side effects of past traumas, and dreads the day his new friends leave for their lives after high school.

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ follows shy and kind-natured Charlie Kelmeckis (Logan Lerman- Percy Jackson, The Butterfly Effect) as he enters high school alone, after the recent loss of his middle school best friend to suicide. Charlie gets befriended by seniors Sam (Emma Watson- Harry Potter-Beauty and the Beast) and Patrick (Ezra Miller- Justice League, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) and finally feels accepted.

Sociology is the scientific study of being behavior in human groups (Schaefer). There are very many examples of sociology in the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but I view alienation, deviance, and gender roles to be the most prominent. This movie is about the struggles of a teenage boy named Charlie’s freshman year of high school. Charlie is seen as a social outcast and he just barely makes it through the year with the help of his best friends Sam and Patrick. Throughout the movie Charlie experiences most of the basic struggles of starting high school and some. This movie is very relateable since it gives a more realistic view of high school for some people. Charlie , and the audience, learns the importance of love and friendship in growing up in today’s society.

When I first started reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I did not like it. The boring, childish writing style made me lost my interest and I was sure that this book is going to be another "waste of time". However, the moment I fished this novel I felt strongly embarrassed because it proved me how wrong I was. This is one of the best books I have ever read in this year. Even though it does not have fancy words or dramatic describing style, it still touched the softest part of my heart.

In the Perks of being a Wallflower the main character Charlie struggles with not only his sexuality, but also the complications of sexuality of those around him. The movie portrays Charlie, Patrick, and Charlie’s love interest Sam, going through one long mischievous bonding trip, while exploring their own sexualities .It opens up with Charlie writing to a friend about his daily struggle in trying to find people to accept him for who he is. Charlie, like many people in society, is uncomfortable in his skin, and he feels judged by those around him. According to Sara Ahmed in “Queer Feelings”, homosexuals always feel uncomfortable because they cannot fit in. Charlie may not particularly be gay, but Charlie meets a man named Patrick who is in fact gay, and they become quick friends. Throughout the movie, introverted Charlie encounters the bad side of sexuality through molestation, bullying, fornication, and domestic violence. For example, Patrick’s lover in the movie, Brad, is a popular football quarterback, who desperately tries to suppress his sexual feelings for Patrick out of fear of what his father, and friends, might think of him. In the past, Linda Garnets states in “ Sexual Orientations in Perspective” that sexual orientation was understood as an old paradigm, so in Brad’s case people would label him as gay, simply because of what he does with his reproductive organs. But, Garnets believes that the new paradigm would say that people can act differently than they

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a novel about coming of age that is seen through the perspective of Charlie, a young ‘wallflower’ that is starting high school and experiences the troublesome teenage life filled with drugs, sexuality and love. Charlie writes this book in a series of letters to an anonymous person. Charlie is the main protagonist of the story who is apprehensive and a kind-hearted boy however he has many problems happening in his life that he doesn’t like to concern others with “I just don’t want you to worry about me, or think you’ve met me, or waste your time anymore”. I admire Charlie because he is very considerate of others and although he is shy he overcomes this fear when he tries to find friends and step out of his comfort zone” Normally I am very shy, but (Patrick) seemed like the kind of guy you could just walk up to at a football game even though you were three years younger and not popular”. In return Charlie is rewarded with his first real friend at high school. I also admire Charlie for his mature attitude towards finding new friends and moving on from the death of his friend Michael. Charlie really needed to start interacting more with people, during the story we find out that Charlie misses having a friend and that being alone can be difficult and cause negative effects “It would be very nice to have a friend again. I would like that even more than a date”. I think

High school is filled with fake people and stress. Students in high school often do not know what they are doing in relationships or how bad they can hurt another person. Lying, cheating, little communication, getting used for sex, drugs, or alcohol and what people continue to believe is real love. It is even harder while trying to make the people around you ecstatic and please your boyfriend/girlfriend. Navigating through the paroles of adolescents with someone that is guaranteed to break your heart in some way, shape, or form is laborious. In Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character Charlie has to navigate all of this while trying to maintain new friendships, try new things, and find new relationships. As presented in the book Charlie is a wallflower. A wallflower is typically an introverted person. They might attend social gatherings, but will continue to remain silent. They see and understand. They feel lonely or shy all the time. As if no one ever see’s them. Also only have a few friends, just like Charlie. His 2 friends are Sam and Patrick. Patrick’s a senior, introducing Charlie to new people, new relationships, and giving him the whole high school experience. They all have something in common, they’re all involved foul relationships. Charlie and Mary Elizabeth, Brad and Patrick, and Sam and Craig. Chbosky displays insolent relationships throughout the book using young adolescent relationships in Perks that are unfair because the people in

“Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It's not 'I love you' for this or that reason, not 'I love you if you love me.' It's love for no reason, love without an object.”- Sam Jones. Although unconditional love is just as simple as “love without conditions;” in today’s society, that notion seems almost impossible. Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower manages to prove this rare, pure love exists, though, through Charlie and his sister’s, Charlie and Sam’s and Patrick’s, and Patrick and Brad’s relationships: family, friends, and lovers. Though these three relationships differentiate greatly from one another, Chbosky authenticates that true

Later that night Charlie meets the rest of the group of misfits: Mary Elizabeth, Alice, and Bob and from then on Charlie has a sense of stability and community which enables him to be more comfortable at school. Even though Charlie is a wallflower- someone who sits back and watches the lives around him- he tries hard to participate and get more involved in the world around him. Throughout Charlie’s emotional journey his English teacher assists him, Bill, he pays special attention to Charlie and assigns him extra papers and books for his personal enrichment.

In the coming of age text “perks”, Charlie demonstrates a great deal of effort to not be so outlying in his new school community, yet is instantly alienated. The themes of alienation are evident from the start when it shows Charlie typing on an old fashioned type writer. The type writer symbolises that Charlie is behind in terms of starting high school late and not fitting the characteristics of a “typical teenager” in the 1990s. The type writer is slow which resembles charlie’s journey and that he is still a work in progress. The opening credits of the film with the non dietetic sounds of the type writer give the impression to the audience that the film is going to be someones story. The simple music represents youth, the teenage years and young love. The positioning of Charlie in the opening scene show through pathetic fallacy that he 's experiencing a continuous stage of dark thoughts, and his room represents that. He is also relatively

In the movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the main character Charlie is on a journey with his mental health. There are many high and low points, but it is obvious that he has a serious mental illness. Throughout the movie, Charlie shows many symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is defined as “A disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.” by the National Institute of Mental Health, and can be diagnosed through the DSM-IV method. Firstly, there needs to be signs of deviant behaviour. During the movie there are multiple occasions where Charlie blacks out and loses his memory. Whether it was drug, rage or anxiety included, this is still considered both deviant behaviour and a symptom of PTSD. Secondly, there needs to be signs of maladaptive behaviour. At the beginning of the movie, we see Charlie writing letters to his deceased best friend about his negative thoughts and feelings. While it is good to express these thoughts and feelings, it is not normal to articulate them to a dead person. He also experiences multiple flashbacks to the trauma he experienced from his Aunt Helen. Flashbacks are one the most common symptoms of PTSD, and can also develop other mental illnesses such as depression if not correctly treated. Lastly, there needs to be signs of personal distress, which can be seen when charlie expresses quilt about his Aunt Helen’s death before he has a blackout in the snow. When his feelings